Einjarjar: Heir to the Blood
by zero0000
Summary: The last heir to a dead dynasty must come forth to claim her birthright. Keeping it, however, will be the biggest challenge. Norsefic.
1. Prologue: Coming of Age

**Einjarjar: Heir to the Blood**

**A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction by zero0000**

_Summary: The last heir to a dead dynasty must come forth to claim her birthright. Keeping it, however, will be the biggest challenge. Norsefic._

**Prologue: Coming of Age**

xxx

"Milady Aeris?"

The chocolate-haired princess of House Gainsborough turned at the sound of her maid's voice. The girl had slipped her head in the door briefly before swinging it open and offering a full curtsy. "Lord and Lady Gainsborough request your presence, if it pleases you, milady." Aeris smiled.

"Tell my parents I will join them shortly."

"As you command, milady."

The morn was the young Lady Gainsborough's eighteenth naming day, the day when she would assume full responsibilities as a respected member of her House. Secretly, Aeris had both anticipated and dreaded this day for her entire life, when she must put aside her childish things and ascend to bigger and brighter things.

She directed her eyes out to the clouds outside the window and whispered a silent prayer to her Guardian, the silent knight who dwelled in the deepest parts of her dreams and fought off the nightmares with his noble blade. All her life she never learned why he was there, and when asked, her parents only said that perhaps some god was watching over her safety. It was an acceptable answer to her at the time, and Aeris felt no need to question it.

Traveling on light footsteps, Aeris descended the spiral staircase from her private chambers and walked forth into the main ballroom, where already all the preparations for her coming of age were being made. The workmen and the maids all greeted her cheerfully and with great delight, as there was no other person more beloved in these lands than her. She was the jewel adorning the crown of Gainsborough, adored by all in Midgard.

The door to the throne room swung open upon her approach, and the young lady offered a sincere smile of thanks for the doormen, who puffed their chests out proudly at the princess' silent gesture of appreciation. Aeris strode out to the middle of the room and she offered a deep, formal curtsy to both her parents.

Lord Gast smiled at the gesture. "Rise, daughter," he commanded. "There is no need for formality when one is amongst family. Even you must be aware of this."

"Ah but how am I to learn proper court manners if I do not practice from time to time, father?" Aeris replied, rising to meet Lord Gainsborough's eyes. "One must also be aware of how one represents one's House, am I correct?" At this Lord Gast broke out into a very amused laugh. "Well reasoned, daughter. Now come and let these old arms embrace you once more." When they broke contact, Lady Gainsborough embraced the girl as well, planting a kiss upon each cheek at the finish.

"How goes the morning for you daughter?" Lady Gainsborough inquired. "Today is your eighteenth naming day. Surely you wish for nothing better than to finally be treated as an adult?" Aeris could only nod. "I admit that I do look forward to tonight," she said, clasping her hands together "but I must admit that I also am fearful at finally leaving my childhood behind. It is such a painful thing for me to imagine, as if I was leaving behind all the memories I have made from the moment I first awoke to a measure of understanding in the world.

Lord Gast laid a hand upon her shoulder. "One need not abandon one's memories when one is merely creating new ones," he quoted. "There is much for you to learn yet, dear child, but let me be the first to assure you that nothing of who you are need change after tonight. Unless, you wish it, of course?"

Aeris shook her head vigorously, sending waves of her hair flying in all directions before they alighted upon her shoulders once more. "I do not wish it so, father," she said. "I have no intention of abandoning who I am."

xxxx

_The war between the Aesir and the Vanir had ended in a stalemate a full thousand years before, both sides suffering major casualties even before the final skirmishes on the heavenly fields were played out to their ends. Due to the horrors of the war both sides sued for peace, neither race willing to let another conflict like this one come to pass. The mortal scribes would turn to this moment as the Great Remorse, the moment when even the very gods sought reparation for their own actions. For more than nine centuries, the peace held. _

_Until one fateful night seventeen years before. _

_Lady Infalna, one of the Aesir's most politically powerful Valkyries, was slain in her own palatial estate close to the borders of Asgard's Gladsheim. The Aesir cried for blood, demanding reparations from the Vanir, who denied all involvement. For several tense months both camps were prepared for an all out war, and even then several encroachments were made upon both races' territories. For a while, it seemed peace was indeed an unlikely goal between the Children of Njord and the Children of Odin._

_It was a painful decision for the remaining members of Infalna's line to send their liege lady's only daughter to Midgard, the human world, for her own protection. It was believed that since Lady Infalna was the primary target of the assassination, her own line would soon become the center of the ire of whoever unnamed individual it was that affected her death._

_It was later proved to be a prudent move, as no sooner than the assignment of Lady Infalna's child into the hands of a mortal family did the cruel instigators of her murder make their move. All who belonged to the House of Infalna were dead before the morning after their heir's departure. _

_Seventeen years have passed. And thus, a new chapter comes into being. _

xxxx

The blacksmith looked upon the open forge and at the unfinished blade that lay within. There would be more work to be done here, he realized. It was not often he miscalculated the purity of a batch of metal, and every occasion could be counted upon the fingers of one hand. He took out the blade and stared at it, deciding quickly which parts of the glowing chunk of metal must be hammered a certain way to preserve the strength of the weapon. Metallic affinities were taught to him from days long past, and though this was to be a mere guardsman's blade, the blacksmith took pride in his work enough to focus some measure of his vast skill upon the creation of the weapon.

His methods were perhaps the reason why he chose to dwell so far from the city. There would be no people poking around here, no one to question the strange glows within his forge. Best of all, there would be nothing to disturb his quiet contemplation short of Ragnarok itself from coming to pass.

He raised his hammer high and began to work. The inside of the smithy rang out with the musical notes of the metal being shaped, sparks coloring the air as if to paint the very picture of the blacksmith's talents. He stopped shortly after the metal started to turn red, dipping the flattened chunk of steel in a barrel filled with water. After the smoke cleared, the blacksmith turned to address the cloaked individual who seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"You have no business with me here," the blacksmith said.

"_Hast thou forgotten thine tongue_?"

He held the stranger's gaze, not willing to back down in the slightest. The stranger said nothing, but his night-black cloak seemed to stir as if with an unseen breeze. The pair stood at an impasse for a few moments until the other man broke the silence. "I do not speak it any longer," The blacksmith said, dropping to a seated position in front of the forge. "There is no more reason for me to do so."

The cloaked man nodded. "_Thou speaketh the truth, Master Valentine_," he said. "_Thou hast no reason to speak thusly_." Valentine turned his red gaze upon the stranger and snorted. "I suppose you do have business with me then? Well? Let's hear it. I'd love to know why they wish to disrupt the peace I have built around myself for the past few decades."

"_I request thine aid with a mission of utmost import_," the stranger replied. "_Concerning the legacy of Lady Infalna_." Valentine nodded. "So her daughter is hidden here in Midgard after all," he said, as if to himself. "Have things grown so bad with the peace of our realms? Can we not avoid the conflict this would cause?"

"_I am in no place to speak on the matter. I only come to do my duty_."

The blacksmith turned his gaze away from the forge again, weighing the substance of the stranger's words. "Yes," he said absently, taking out the glowing piece of metal once it shone white. "Duty binds you all, does it not? I will aid you. But only to the extent of helping Infalna's heir. I will accompany you as far as the border. No further than that."

"_I would ask of thee no more than what thou art willing to give._," the stranger said, and with those words he faded away into the shadows.

Valentine hammered the glowing piece of steel for a few more minutes after the stranger left. Once it was in the water barrel, he called out a single name. "Nanaki." From the glow of the flame a red lupine creature emerged, its haunches covered with scars and a strange feathered headdress adorning its mane. "_Thine bidding, master_?" the creature said, swishing what looked like a lit tail behind him.

"Send a message to the mortal. Tell him the price of the bargain will be paid tonight."

"_As thou wouldst command_," the creature murmured, and disappeared in a shower of sparks and flame. Valentine shook his head.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Cloud Strife."

xxxx

"Yuffie! I can't believe you're here!"

The Wutain shogun's daughter found herself tackled from behind and hugged fiercely. "Heya Ris-chan," Yuffie Kisaragi said, grinning. "It's your birthday, remember? I'm not even going to think of missing it!" The two had met during a diplomatic trip to Wutai when House Gainsborough offered their help to refugees from the failed war versus the Shin-Ra Empire. It was one of the things that solidified the relationships with the fiefdom and the oriental nation, the blossoming friendships of then twelve year old Aeris and seven year old Yuffie.

The girls held hands as they walked, chatting about recent events in their lives and watching the work progress for the party the coming evening. "I can't believe you're going to be of age," Yuffie said, a note of awe creeping into her voice. "I mean, it never really felt like you were older than I was more than now." Aeris laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I suppose we're just both act immature then?"

"Yeah… Hey! Wait a minute!"

The younger brunette chased after her, laughing as they ran. The young lady Gainsborough was about to pull away when she slammed bodily into what felt like a brick wall. "Oof!" Aeris cried, to her surprise a pair of gauntleted hands caught her before she fell. The first thing she saw when she looked up was a pair of bright blue eyes and a grinning Zack Fair.

"You know," the knight said, raising an eyebrow "it isn't really very ladylike to run through hallways." Aeris slugged him playfully in the arm, backing away from his grasp as Yuffie caught up to her. "I think I'm allowed a little leeway, Master Fair," she said, raising her head to meet his gaze. "You know what must happen tonight. After today I must put away all my childish things, including this behavior."

"Well spoken, Lady," Zack replied, chuckling. "And my happiest greetings for you on your birthday." He reached behind his belt and took out something and said "I suppose it is a little early for this, but there is a large chance that I won't be able to be at your side tonight if rumors are to be believed." Aeris' eyes widened as the older man held out a crystalline white orb dangling from his hand from a black cord. "Happy Birthday, milady," he said, standing behind her to hang the trinket. "And may there be many more to come." Yuffie walked over and, upon seeing the dazed expression on her best friend's face, decided to cut in.

"I think he likes you."

A swath of red erupted in the other girl's face. "Yuffie!" Aeris cried. "He's practically my brother!"

"Are you sure he even thinks that way?"

"Well…"

"There you go," Yuffie pointed out, shaking a disapproving finger. "You don't. You just decided he didn't and hoped for the best. Gods, can you spend so much time around me and not get these things?"

"I'm sorry for my ignorance milady," Aeris said rather dryly. "It won't happen again."

"Better," the Wutain replied cheekily.

The pair walked through the grounds, surrounded by the strange black-clad warriors that composed Yuffie's bodyguards. Since the fiefdom shared a border with Shin-Ra, a kidnapping or an assassination was very much a possibility no matter how amicable the terms of the peace treaty had been. "The Shin-Ra are as dire wolves, always sniffing around for weakness," Lord Godo once said. "It is foolishness to trust them completely, even at a time of apparent peace."

Aeris heard Yuffie referring to the warriors alternately as shinobi, or ninja. She thought they were different names for the same thing until Yuffie told her otherwise. "Ninja are what the shadows over there are called," she said, jerking her thumb at the unobtrusive group of four (five?) moving wraithlike amongst the pillars. "Shinobi are usually forms of address for the men, kunoichi for the women. Essentially they are the same thing but our Ministry for Military affairs tend to be obsessive compulsive about this sort of thing." Aeris had to nod. Her father's own Ministry for Military affairs was exactly the same way.

"I have to say though," Yuffie said, pausing "I believe Dad when he says that about the Shin-Ra. We can't trust them. Not even after all these years." Aeris rested a hand on her best friend's shoulder. The war left a lot of wounds for a lot of people, and for the defeated Wutain, the bitterness was the hardest to get rid of. One of the ninja approached them, and after receiving leave from his mistress, leaned over and whispered something in Yuffie's ear. "Listen," the Wutain said distractedly. "I have to go. I suppose I'll have to meet you at the feast tonight."

"All right."

"Thanks Ris-chan."

Aeris headed for one of the second floor balconies overlooking the gardens and sat down, wondering what it was that had caused Yuffie to be called away so quickly. She shook her head. Now was not the time to think on these things, she reasoned out. Silently though, she uttered a prayer for her friend's safety.

xxxx

"_Art thou certain_?"

"_She is whom we seek_," the Woman in the Shadows said. "_Thou shalt find entry upon the city and go into it in stealth. Our forces have been placed in places of import and they shalt endeavor to make this capture less difficult for us._"

"_Excellent,_" the man in black said. He touched the hilt of his sword and a trio of cloaked men appeared. "_Thou art tasked to aid mine agent in hers,_" he commanded, addressing the three. "_Thou shalt evade detection and thou shalt stay in the shadows until thine aid is needed. Do not fail me if thou wishest to continue existing._" The three bowed and dissolved into mist, along with the Woman in the Shadows. The man in black trained his eyes upon Gainsborough castle up in the distance, frowning as he did so.

"You have evaded us for the last time, Infalna's daughter," he said. "This time there will be no escape."

xxxx

He would not allow himself to forget that fateful night.

(What's your name?)

He could not, for the sake of his own honor.

(Cloud, milady.)

And for hers, above anyone else's.

(Will you always be here to protect me?)

He remembers her name, calling him. The desperate screams haunting every single one of his frequent nightmares.

('tis my duty, milady.)

Her voice echoing in the hallways of the manse as he ran to her aid.

(Why would duty bind you so?)

Her blood pooling in scarlet rivulets underneath her quickly cooling body.

(Because I vowed to protect thee with all mine power.)

Most of all, he could not bring himself to forget that her death had been his fault.

(Why do you make these vows?)

It had all been his fault.

(Duty binds me to do so.)

And so he remembered.

(Would you stay by my side when I need you?)

With each memory he lashed himself with an invisible whip, with a vigor that betrayed thoughts that he deserved worse than this.

(Thou only need call mine name.)

And he remembered still.

(Thank you, Cloud.)

xxxx

A/N: A lot of the dialogue from here on end is going to sound a lot more flowery than a lot of fics, mostly because we're dealing with the uppercrust members of the cast for now. I'm going to try and tone it down once we get more commoners in the party, but I can't promise anything right away.

In any case, read and review as usual.


	2. Chapter One: Flight and Fight

**Chapter One: Flight and Fight**

xxxx

Lord Gast stood pacing in his chambers wearing his formal dress robes. Everyone else is at feast, and the only ones accompanying him here is the fiery dog that appeared out of nowhere as he was leaving the door. "Are you sure your master will not wait until the evening is over?" Gast asked. "Not even to wait for the feasting to end?"

The fiery hound shook his head. "The Master does not wish for anyone to be able to anticipate Lady Aeris' departure," Nanaki explained. "I have been sent as a guide for the one who will escort her. He will arrive upon your palace in minutes."

"But the guards—"

"Your guardsmen are as ineffectual as children in the conflict which will come to pass," the Fire Spirit explained. "Unless you wish for your line to end in rubble and ashes I highly suggest that you send Aeris away this night. Her safety will be assured in our hands, I assure you of this, milord."

Lord Gainsborough plopped unto a chair, thinking hard. There was no way his entire army could face up against what these people could come up with, that was sure enough. It was like going against the very gods themselves! He had to repress a chuckle at that. _Going against the gods indeed_, he said to himself. Then an idea struck him. "There is one thing I must insist on," the man said, after a moment. "I must send one of my own to guard her, and no I will not accept any of your protests. You will take the one person who has made mine and my wife's lives worthwhile and I will not let her free without seeing to her safety in the only way I can. Agree to this and I will agree to your terms, Master Fire Hound."

Nanaki swished his lit tail in a manner that can only be described as frustrated. "I cannot speak for the Master but," he said reluctantly. "However, I will have accomplished my task in delivering this message. I will send word when the Master's companion will come for Lady Aeris. Fare you well, Lord Gast. May the blessings of Asgard be upon you and your household." And, in as dramatic a fashion as the beast arrived, it flashed into a flare of fire and vanished into thin air.

And when he was sure he was alone, the Lord of House Gainsborough opened the door and called for a guardsman. "Send for Master Zack Fair," he commanded. "See to it that he prepare supplies for himself and another person for a journey. And have someone go to the stables and prepare steeds for both of them."

When the liegeman had run off, Lord Gast closed the door and leaned upon it heavily. "Odin help us all," he muttered under his breath. "Odin help my daughter…"

xxxx

The palace's grand ballroom was filled to bursting, the center of the room dominated by four whole tables groaning under the weight of food from all corners of the land. Roast boar from the forested regions prepared in spices and herbs by the most skilled chefs of the House, pastries of every sort imaginable, as well as a variety of poultry products fresh from outlying farms. There was wine served cold from buckets of ice stored from the winter in the palace cellar, oakwood aged mead gifted by Gainsborough's most loyal serfs, and hundreds of servants bustled about, keeping goblets and flagons full. Entertainment for the night was provided by a full orchestra playing in a raised area above the floors, and guests took advantage of the music by filling the floor with dancing.

Amidst the joyous affair, Aeris Gainsborough wondered just where her father had gone. "You know him, my dear," her mother had reassured her. "Probably seeing to some minor affair or other. He never could turn his back on his duty, you know that." The girl had just nodded, not even sure how to respond. Yuffie was at the other end of the ballroom, addressing a slant eyed man in military uniform and didn't appear to want to be disturbed. She admitted to herself that her younger friend probably had more potential in the world of politics, and she doubted she could say the same for herself.

"Milady?"

She turned to see a dashing young noble dressed in black satin smiling at her. He had strange whitish hair tied back in a short ponytail with a black silk ribbon, and his robes were trimmed in gold piping. For some reason or another Aeris could not stop looking into his eyes, which had a most curious shade of green which seemed to glow under the right lighting. "I must apologize good sir," she said. "I did not realize I was being addressed." The young noble smiled and tipped his feathered hat.

"Nay, it is I who must apologize for interrupting your quiet contemplation," he replied smoothly. "If milady does not wish to be interrupted then I take my leave—"

"No, not at all."

"Then milady," the man said, his voice suddenly oozing with charm. "May I trouble you with a dance?"

Aeris couldn't help but smile as the young noble led her to the dance floor. They started out with a slow waltz and made a circuit around the ballroom, pausing every now and then to nod a greeting at a familiar looking couple every once in a while. "You might think it terribly rude of me, kind sir," Aeris said, facing her partner "but I had neglected to ask your name."

"My name is Yazoo, milady," the nobleman replied, gliding along with his partner through a portly pair of a duke and his wife. "I take no offense, let me assure you."

"An unusual name in this part of the continent," Aeris admitted. "Which land do you hail from? Perhaps an eastern protectorate?"

"A northern one, milady. The land from which I hail from you might not have heard of."

A tap on her shoulder made Aeris pause, and when she turned she received the shock of her life. There in front of her was the guardian of her dreams, the one who always chased away the beasts in her nightmares. He was dressed in a royal blue tunic in the manner of the Royal court and his unruly blonde hair had been combed into something that resembled tameness. His bright green eyes stared at her intently, totally ignoring Yazoo's warning glare. "Good sir," he said. "Might I ask for a dance from your lady? I had come a long way to gaze upon the lady of the evening."

"I do not mind, dear sir," Aeris found herself answering, despite Yazoo's look of protest. "Sir Yazoo, it was a pleasure dancing with you."

Once Lady Gainsborough took the other man's hand, she couldn't help but feel the calloused pads under the silk gloves he wore. _Were they sword fighting calluses?_ Aeris asked herself. _What manner of sorcery is this?! This cannot be him! This cannot be. He was an entity of my dreams and it is utterly impossible for me to meet him in person!_

"You seem distracted, lady."

"I…apologize," the girl replied, letting herself be swayed by the nameless noble's lead. "It might be presumptuous of me to say, but I believe we have met before." The slightest ghost of a smile appeared on the man's lips, and his eyes appeared to glow for the briefest moment.

"In dreams, perhaps?"

"How did you—"

"There is little time for me to explain, milady," The noble interrupted. "Suffice to say that this night your entire world will be turned to its knees unless I and my colleague can take you to safety." Aeris looked at him in alarm.

"What do you mean?"

Instead of an answer, the man whirled her around and faced her to the wall, standing protectively behind her the whole time. "No time!" he growled. "His hand has found you!" Before he even finished his words the middle of the ballroom erupted into a massive explosion, decimating the raised dais where the minstrels played. The nobles where in a panic, while guardsmen came pouring into the doors at the sound of the ruckus.

Before anyone else could react, the nameless noble snatched Aeris by the hand and ran her to the stairway leading to the second floor balcony. "Milady," the noble said fiercely "you must flee with me to safety! You are most at risk while you remain here and it is imperative that we put distance between ourselves and his hand at all times!"

"What do you mean?!"

"I am asking you to trust me, Lady Aeris," Green eyes bore into green. "Give me the same trust you did while I protected you from your worst nightmares. I implore you, milady." Perhaps sensing the intent in his tone, the young lady found herself nodding, and without another word they pair leapt up the staircase and ran out into the balcony with more speed than Aeris thought possible. When the brunette found them gazing down at the sheer drop she yelped in protest, but in vain. The nameless noble took her in his arms and leapt down and landed in a dead sprint, heading straight for the forested regions behind the castle. And would have made it to had a voice not cut into the silence.

"Hold, scoundrel," the grim voice of Zack Fair as he drew his ivory hilted _Zweihander_ from its scabbard. "You shall not lay a hand upon my Lady Liege while I draw breath." The nameless noble stopped and stared, cocking his head to one side as he did. Aeris let herself down from the nameless one's grip and yelled a warning at her personal guard. "Master Fair!" Aeris said. "He means me no harm!"

"He has bewitched you, milady. How can you trust someone you barely know?"

"But I—"

"Not to worry," Zack said, dropping into the Flowing Water stance. "I shall liberate you from his hands with a mighty strike of mine blade."

The young lady was about to protest about the knight's opponent being unarmed when the shadow of his massive blade blot out the moonlight. Aeris fell to the ground in horror at the weapon her guardian carried. It resembled the sword he used in her dreams, a long hilted blade made up of arcane crystalline components, each aspect of the blade bending light just so. The sword measured almost as long as the nameless noble was tall, and the most frightening part about her dream knight was how he seemed to carry it with one hand, with ease.

"I do not wish to kill you sir," the dream knight's voice carried over through the silence of the trees. "But I will not put my lady at risk because of your petty delusions of chivalry."

"Master knight, no!" came a yell. Both men paused from an attack at Aeris's voice. "I will not have you fight with my most loyal guardian! If you must duel with him then I must ask you to return me to the palace, however dangerous it might seem to you now!"

"As you command, milady," both men murmured, aiming a glare at each other's simultaneous response. Suddenly the dream knight stiffened, and gripped the hilt of his sword even tighter. "Milady Aeris," he said. "The enemy comes."

Without warning a dozen forms exploded from under the ground, propelling themselves I the air. The nameless knight tracked the movement with his eyes, positioning his blade flat side out before swinging hard with both arms, sending ripping gales of wind tearing through half the creatures before they even landed. The remaining six dropped to the ground, slathering and growling at the loss of their comrades.

They looked something along the lines of a plant/animal hybrid, lupine forms with thorny vines twisted across limbs. Stained yellow fangs dripped with thick viscous fluid, too dark to be considered saliva as glowing red eyes looked upon them with hunger in their gaze. "Master Fair," the nameless knight asked. "Is there anywhere you can take Lady Aeris to get her out of this conflict?"

"I shall escort Lady Aeris to the stables," Zack said, dodging a clawed attack at his head and countering with his left fist. At all times he kept Aeris by his side, defending her from any strike she could not dodge. "The Lord Gast commanded for steeds to be ready for us both. He believed the time may have come for milady's flight, and at this point I see little sense to argue with his orders."

"Father knew this would happen?"

"Yes milady," Zack confirmed. "As to how he did, I do not have the answer."

"I will come with you, to bring up the rear," the nameless knight said. "You have no name for the horrors the enemy will be able to summon and neither do you have the skill to fight against them." At Aeris' questioning look, he had to add "trust in the promise I now make you, milady. My comrade's familiar shall follow you both and keep you safe. He will know it is you when he sees it accompanying you." A quick spin cut to ward off an overhead attack.

"I beseech you, lady." At this Aeris nodded with a measure of hesitation.

"All right."

The nameless knight swung his mighty sword in a perfect circle and a halo of light descended upon the trio. For a few minutes the creatures had been unable to penetrate the glowing barrier, and the blonde warrior took advantage of that time. He took out what looked like a small ball from a pouch and muttered some barely intelligible words, waving circles with his left hand as he did so. A ball of fire materialized in the middle of their cluster, forming the lupine form of the Fire Spirit Nanaki.

"_Nanaki,_" The nameless knight commanded. "_Thou shalt keep these two beyond harm's reach. Escort them to the stables and await the arrival of thine master._" The fire spirit bowed. He turned to the pair and said "Go. Nanaki will escort you to where you need to be. I will find you wherever you are so long as you stay in his presence." "

"Wait!" the young lady Gainsborough exclaimed, fighting momentarily against Zack's grip. "What's your name?" The nameless knight seemed to have smiled, and Aeris had to wonder if she hadn't been seeing things. "Cloud," he said. "Cloud Strife."

"Thank you for your help, Master Strife."

"Yes, well, what are you waiting for?! Fly, you fools!"

At those words the barrier collapsed, and Nanaki exploded into motion, ripping a solid furrow into the ground with a massive burse of flame as he ran, clearing a small corridor which Zack and his lady liege quickly made use of. More of the abominations started rising from the ground, and the Einjarjar known as Cloud Strife raised his blade in preparation. He will not fail Infalna's heir. This he vowed.

It was a few moments after he slew the last of the monsters that he realized he was not alone. He turned to see a trio of men, the one to the far left revealing himself as a very displeased Yazoo, still clad in his feasting clothes, holding a pair of repeating crossbows. The one on the right was no stranger as well, the berserker known only as Loz, clad in a black fur lined cape and armed with enchanted iron gauntlets which were said to be able to allow a man to punch through walls unscathed. The one on the center though, made the Einjarjar grit his teeth, though outwardly he remained composed. Cloud Strife gripped his sword's hilt and dropped into a stance.

"Hail and well met, Kadaj."

xxxx

Vincent Valentine considered himself first a foremost, a patient man. The plans made this night required that he be one, so too with the craft he practiced. What that does not preclude, however, is his immunity to boredom. So there he was, standing in the middle of a small clump of trees designated as their meeting place, a couple of hundred yards away from the Gainsborough estate, only his familiar to accompany him.

Dark Nation lifted her feline head from her prone position, her nose testing the air. "_Master_," she drawled in her lilting sort of speech. "_A host of three or four are upon us. Methinks they do not mean us harm but they perhaps believe we do._" Valentine snorted, drawing his sword. Perhaps some of the palace guards, come to see if the invaders had allies nearby.

The blacksmith could sense them now, they were close enough. It truly amazes him how some of the living could walk in absolute silence, or pull off the illusion of it. There were wards set up in this part of the trees, but either the intruders had managed to evade them or disable them completely. Very impressive indeed.

The first strike was so fierce and so fluid that Vincent Valentine barely managed to block it with his blade, and the second one followed so quickly after it that he was forced to dodge by rolling forwards. Dark Nation was on her haunches, snarling at the two that managed to descend upon her flank. Another figure, much shorter than the rest, joined the two circling the blacksmith, and even he had to smile at being thought of as the biggest threat.

"Hail and well met," he managed to say, deflecting an overhead strike, stepping sideways to avoid a thrust meant to go through his ribs, stunning the attacker with an elbow strike as he spun to the right. "Though I imagine this isn't quite the proper manner of starting a polite conversation, even in faraway Wutai, is it?"

A flinch. Hardly perceptible, but it was there. The blacksmith went on the offensive, striking at an illusive shadow that managed not to be there when his twin strikes were. Another materialized to his left, and Valentine used his left arm to lash out at his attacker's forearm and the hilt of his blade brought down upon his/her head. One down, two to go, he muttered to himself.

"A clever trick, master swordsman," a treble voice said, confirming the identity of the leader as female. "But I will not be deceived by your distraction tactics any longer. You will tell us who else is involved in the attack at the ballroom and you will tell us where you took the lady Aeris."

"Brave words, little girl," came the reply. "Are you sure you wish to dabble in matters so far beyond your puny little comprehension? Provoke the truth and it will come after you like a crazed beast. You will not like the answer when you hear it!"

"Damn you! I will not be distracted! Show me where you took Aeris and you may yet live!"

"Very well," Vincent said, his red eyes snapping open and the irises beginning to glow in an ethereal light. "I had warned you properly. It is no longer my fault if you ignore the practicality of it." Without prelude a strike from the flat edge of a blade took down the Wutain's remaining guard and a blast of flame erupted from the blacksmith's open palm. The girl managed to dodge, just missing turning into a crater. "It appears I hadn't overestimated you then," the blacksmith said. "But this farce ends here. _Dark Nation, thou shalt end this conflict in the most efficient manner possible. Leave them alive but do not leave thine opponents unhurt._"

A crash, the sound of breaking glass. The girl whirled around, shocked beyond belief at the pillars of ice imprisoning her best guards, leaving only small spaces for air. The black feline was snarling, its cobalt blue eyes giving off an ethereal glow. A bevy of fireballs was hovering around the blacksmith, with the man chanting some words in a language the Wutain found strangely familiar. Then, without questioning how, she drew out a hidden tendril of memory and shouted the first thing that came to mind.

The fireballs converged on a crystalline blue screen, so sheer it appeared transparent. The resulting explosions knocked the Wutain to her knees, collapsing because of exhaustion she has thus far failed to explain. Vincent stared at her in openmouthed shock, still unable to comprehend how this Wutain, this _mortal_ managed a high level elemental protection spell. One he had remembered to be preferred by one specific person in defending against that one specific strike.

The girl gasped as she was grabbed by the throat, lifted up in the air and pinned against a tree. "Who are you?!" Valentine raged. "How in Hela's name did you manage that spell?! Answer me you sniveling pathetic milksop!" Dark Nation leaped to his side, muttering warnings heard only by the blacksmith's sensitive ears.

"I-I-I-I d-d-don't—"

"Liar!"

"_Hold thine rage master!_" Dark Nation warned. "_There is little to be gained by putting the fear of Odin in an innocent bystander. I beseech thee!_" An undignified thud later, the Wutain fell to the ground. "Leave," Vincent said, his rage ebbing away. "I do not wish to see you anywhere near here. There are things which will happen this night that no mortal eyes need see. Save yourself from the experience and flee from this place."

"But—"

"Leave, girl."

Vincent stopped in his tracks when a small hand wrapped around his sleeve. He turned and came face to face with an angry face and an approaching fist. The air resounded with the impact, and even the ice familiar had to wince. "You bastard," the Wutain spat, Vincent himself with his hand on his cheek, a shocked expression on his face. "I don't care for the games you're playing. Tell me where Aeris is. I know you had something to do with the attack and I will not leave until you tell me where my best friend is!"

The blacksmith rubbed his jaw, muttering oaths under his breath. "_She is…spirited, Master,_" Dark Nation conceded. "_I should think there would be no reason to tell her who truly is responsible for the attack. We have no reason to believe she wouldst leave thou alone otherwise._" Valentine shot his familiar a glare, but gave the matter some thought anyway.

"I don't believe I should tell you anything for fear of your safety," the blacksmith said finally, holding up a hand to silence the Wutain's protest. "But I will tell you this much. Your friend Aeris is going to be taken to a much safer place. There are people in the palace right now who wish her harm and myself and one other will ensure that she be taken to a place of refuge. She can stay in this land no longer if she wishes to live."

"What in Leviathan's name does that mean?!"

"It means what it means and that's all that I will be willing to say on the matter."

The Wutain pouted, blowing a lock of her close cropped hair from her eyes. The panther creature approached the older man and he bent to listen to what she had to say. The blacksmith turned to the girl and said "it appears that there is some danger to the one sent to fetch her. He has summoned my other familiar and they will need my aid if he had been desperate enough to do so." With that, he turned to leave.

"Wait!" Valentine turned, a frown on his face at the girl's impertinence. She ran up to them and grabbed his sleeve. "Take me with you!" she said.

"No. It's far too dangerous."

"I am the heir to the Wutain shogunate!" The girl protested. "I'm better trained than the warriors you so easily dispatched! I can take care of myself if you should ever take me with you!"

"Is that why you were so easily distracted by my reference to your heritage a while ago?" (The girl had the grace to blush at that)

Minutes later the blacksmith still hadn't managed to shake the girl off. "_She is spirited indeed Master,_" Dark Nation said, keeping herself from smiling with a strong force of will. "_Perhaps it would have been less stressful for thee if thou hast allowed her to join us in the first place._" Valentine replied with something rude and unrepeatable, keeping his eyes trained in front of him as he ran to where his hidden senses told him Nanaki was. It was a few minutes more of solid running before he finally found the fire hound, only Strife wasn't with them.

The lady Aeris he was able to recognize thanks to some encounters with the Lady Infalna. With her was a raven-haired knight who seemed to be dressed in a cloak for travel. At Valentine's questioning look, Nanaki spoke.

"_Lord Strife sent me to thee with Lady Aeris and Master Fair,_" the fire hound managed to gasp. "_He hath stayed behind to deal with the Hand. Their presence caused the conflict at the castle!_" And with that he told the pair about Lord Gast's preparations to have them use the castle steeds in the escape. Vincent contemplated the report for a few minutes, leaving Aeris and the Wutain to talk.

"Yuffie?" Aeris said, unable to contain the surprise in her voice. "What are you doing here?" The Wutain princess grinned, saying "I had a team of ninja follow tall dark and glowing eyes. We took a shortcut through the forest to where we thought he'd be and found dour Master Blacksmith over there," she said, jerking a thumb at where Vincent was standing. To his credit the blacksmith stayed true to his contemplation, stopping once or twice to speak with Zack about Lord Gast's arrangements.

Zack approached them after a time, saying "Master Valentine agrees that we must rescue Master Strife after acquiring the steeds. I will accompany the lady Aeris with the familiar Dark Nation to the stables while he goes to Master Strife's place of combat. Nanaki will escort Lady Kisaragi—" Yuffie cut the knight off at that.

"Don't you dare suggest I leave!"

"But Lady Yuffie, your father…"

"I know very well what my father would say!" the Wutain snapped. "I don't intend to put my life in danger needlessly! I'm doing this for the sake of friendship and nothing you or that arrogant blacksmith over there will ever convince me to do otherwise! I go where Aeris goes and that's final."

"You will only slow us down," Vincent said.

"Not as much as Zack, or Aeris," Yuffie countered. "Would you suggest leaving him behind? Or her? It would be terribly embarrassing to whoever your liege would be if you don't arrive with her, wouldn't it?" Valentine had nothing to say to that.

"_I toldst thou,_" Dark Nation said, addressing her brother familiar, who nodded in agreement. "_She is a spirited one._"

Despite Vincent Valentine's protests, Yuffie Kisaragi joined Zack and Dark Nation in escorting Aeris to fetch their steeds. The blacksmith and Nanaki ran to the trees, directly where the battle between the Hand and Cloud Strife was. With nary a word both groups split up, one to engineer their escape, the other to rescue another guard.

xxxx

Cloud Strife pulled another crossbow bolt out of his arm and dropped into a stance again. The bolts weren't poisoned, thank Balder, but there was still some considerable agony involved in removing barbed arrowheads out of one's body. Two of the Hand were close combat specialists, the other a distance fighter. There would be much grief involved in taking all three of them on at once, but he had to do what he could to keep them from going after his principal. Already his eyes were growing blurry, the loss of blood growing too troublesome for even his iron will to overcome.

Loz came at him with a wild battle cry, his black fur-trimmed cloak blazing in the wake of his movement. The blow smashed into a tree, scattering splinters at the blond as he dodged, barely evading Kadaj's follow up strike with a sword. There was barely enough time to strike at one of the two bolts loosed by the inappropriately dressed archer. Kadaj glared at the trio's opponent, grimacing in disdain as Cloud rolled to a stop in front of a tree, scampering behind it to the cover of the shadows behind.

"_Is this what thou hast become, o mighty Einjarjar?!_" Kadaj bellowed, giving Loz and Yazoo silent hand signals to divide and cut their opponent off further into the trees. "_Stand and fight, coward!_"

There are two variables to consider when fighting against opponents of greater number and only two: strength and tactical efficiency. A single force having more power than one with greater numbers than it is more than likely to gain victory than the other, while a single force with greater tactical skill than a stronger one has greater chances of getting through unscathed. While it was no secret that Cloud Strife was one of the stronger warriors of the ranks, it can also be argued that the Hand themselves are each as strong, if not marginally stronger. As such Cloud Strife is severely limited in his options, with his wounded condition, the dark expanse of the terrain and the superior numbers.

He stopped behind some trees for cover and reached for several metallic tiles in his pouch and murmured soft words into them, their glow hidden immediately as he clenched his fist. The blond pressed a tile onto a tree in front of him, watching it glow for a moment before sprinting ahead as silently as he could, doing the same to almost a dozen trees in his immediate vicinity. The marked trees were spread out in almost a circular design, with Cloud tracing a path directly around where the Hand would have to pass.

Kadaj raised his head, as if scenting something in the air. "_Einjarjar_," he breathed. "_Thou hast masked thine presence well. But 'tis a skill of no value to thee if thou uses even a portion of thine power!_" The leader of the Hand laughed, slicing at the air with his sword before swinging the blade straight towards the ground. The impact of the weapon split a furrow into the soil, the massive crack in the earth zigzagging forwards at an alarming speed. Out of the crack grew great thorny vines, lashing out into the air like tongues of some fell beast and growing at the same rate as the crack. Immediately the trench and the wooded vines encircled the general area where Cloud was standing. But the Einjarjar had other tricks up his sleeve.

"_Surtr's flame, consume all things in thine path!_"

The runic tiles planted on the trees erupted with flame, devouring the very logs they were on with glowing red heat at the sound of the blond knight's activation words. The vines stopped short of the burning barricade, seemingly screaming at the futility of its attack. The three members of the Hand shielded their eyes, hissing at the very sight of the protective wall of flame.

Without warning a ball of fire erupted from the wall, exploding at Loz's booted foot. Several moving spherical flames moved out from behind the Einjarjar's barricade, hovering protectively around the blond. "_Thou makest much noise with thine entrances,_" Strife said dryly. "_Dost thou not, Master Valentine?_"

Vincent smiled from behind his vantage point, a flaming tree that looked close to toppling over. "Arrogant little pissant," the blacksmith drawled, watching the Hand back away from the start of what will be a gigantic forest fire. "The least you could do is to admit that you needed help for once."

"_When Muspelheim freezes over, Master Blacksmith._"

"Humph."

"_What news of the Lady Aeris?_"

Valentine ran his hand across his hair. "She's safe," he said after a fashion. "But we may have some unnecessary people following along on your quest to restore her to Asgard." Cloud nodded, remembering the insistence of the knight Zack Fair.

"We must do what is necessary to bring her back to her homeland," the blond replied. "For now it is our duty to keep her safe. And safety is a long way away from here."

xxxx

A/N: Everything I've ever read on Norse myth said that two factions of the gods, the Aesir and the Vanir, had once fought a war against each other that was later resolved with the exchange of hostages two of those hostages being Freya and her brother Freyr. Nothing in the things I've read has ever given an impression on what might have started the war, but I might take some artistic license on trying to explain it later on.

I'm not so sure if I can fit every single character in Final Fantasy VII in this story, but I have angles and plot entrances for most of them. In any case, I will try and update this story as much as I can as frequently as I can. To fans of my Naruto fics, not to worry, as I will be updating them when inspiration strikes.

— zero0000


	3. The Hunter

**Chapter Two: ****The Hunter**

xxxx

They had been on the run for three days.

The Woman in the Shadows took a broken twig in her hands, shifting it this way and that against the light of the morning sun. Her skill was such that some people thought she used some sort of arcane sorcery, something that aided her in tracking the whereabouts of her prey. Had she been inclined to listen to such babblings, she would have laughed. Assuming she was capable of it.

North. That was where the signs led. Perhaps they stopped once or twice to rest their steeds, perhaps just half a day. There was a small encampment a few leagues behind, the marks of a fire hastily buried one morning when some of the people in the group had decided they were wasting too much time. A few bone scraps, picked clean by carrion eaters. The Woman in the Shadows muttered an oath under her breath, before steeling herself once more to do her task.

The hunt was on. Her prey would not escape.

xxxx

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

Vincent whipped around, nearly throwing himself off the Chocobo and shouted "for the last time, you infernal girl! We still have half a day's travel before we even reach the village!" Yuffie gave him an indignant look and huffed, muttering something about "uncouth blacksmiths and their manners towards their betters." Aeris patted her best friend comfortingly, concentrating on the direction they've been traveling for the past few days. "Master Strife," she said. "This seems to me like we're entering imperial territory. May I ask as to the purpose of this entire journey? I feel as if you owe us all an explanation."

"There isn't much I can tell you that won't convince you that I'm either mad, or about to become so," the blond knight replied. "Are you truly prepared to hear me out?"

"My mind is open, Master Strife."

"Very well milady," Cloud said, nodding. "I shall explain it all tonight at the first place of lodging we find. We have slept on hard ground long enough." There were murmurs of agreement all around, even among the men, who up until that point slept in rotating watches to raise their guard whilst on the path.

The village of Gongagga rose in a distant clearing in the thicket upon the setting of the sun. It didn't take a lot of time for the group to find the inn at the center of town, such was the diminutive size of the settlement. Cloud and Vincent had both brought traveling supplies enough for three, and with the addition of Zack Fair and the heir to House Kisaragi, the need for replenishment increased greatly, reducing the estimated week the provisions were supposed to last. Zack still wore his formal dress garments under his worn journeyman's cloak (which was on loan from the blond knight), and Yuffie had to make do with a long coat fashioned from an extra set which was supposed to be Aeris' change.

The women were shepherded into a single room, the biggest available on such short notice, while the men were led to a small dormitory, such that a hired man-at-arms might lodge in. Vincent went outside the inn after a brief exchange with Cloud, and the group from the fiefdom found themselves left under the watchful green eyes of Master Strife. "So," he said, plopping down on a chair in a secluded corner of the inn's common room.

"Where shall I start?"

"Why don't you start with explaining how in Odin's name you found enough audacity to kidnap milady Aeris?!" Zack exclaimed, before noticing the surprised stares of half the people in the room. "You have much to answer for, scoundrel," he added in a whisper. Aeris gave him a disappointed stare for his outburst, but had to agree with her liegeman's sentiment. Yuffie merely looked on, her face schooled to not show any interest or the lack of which.

Strife took a deep breath, wishing for that one moment he had not stowed his Ultima Weapon. He felt so naked without his blade. "Like I said," the swordsman began "my story is such that it takes an extremely open mind to take in. Lady Aeris has already given me her word that she will take it at face value at the very least. Both of you," he pointed at Zack and Yuffie punctuate his statement "have seen the lengths some people are willing to go through just to cause her harm. Will you make the same promise to hear me out?"

"We do swear," the pair chorused.

"Then I could ask for no more," Cloud said as he leaned forward and lowered his voice below the din of the crowd. The others clumped closer, listening intently. "My story begins in a faraway realm, one which for the past nine centuries had enjoyed a peace between two tribes. The peace was broken not eighteen years hence, when an assassin pierced the security of my lady liege's estate and put her to the blade."

"I extend my sympathy to you Master Strife," Aeris said when the blond looked away. "I feel as though you had been very devoted in your service to your lady."

"Thank you for your concern, Lady Gainsborough. But unfortunately for all of us my tale does not end there."

"While the grief was still fresh in Milady Infalna's household, I learned of intentions to kill her last surviving heir," Cloud continued. "She would be the one destined to restore greatness to the house when the day came, greatness taken prematurely when milady's light was extinguished. My masters convinced people of the court, people whom Lady Infalna's House owed allegiance to, that the only recourse was to send the child away to a faraway land, some place where she may grow up in a manner worthy of her station and at the same time learn the ways of the court enough that she will be ready when she returned."

"The king had wanted to wait for her twentieth naming day, leaving provisions for all to be explained on her eighteenth. Unfortunately," the blond paused to take a sip of his drink. "Our plans had to be changed."

"Did this have anything to do with the three warriors who were pursuing us?" Yuffie interjected. "They were most unusual people."

"The Hand of Sephiroth do have a big part in this," Cloud conceded. "They were the most feared emissaries of milady's foes, and at no time in their presence can anyone who earns their ire ever feel safe."

"And yet you chose to do just that when you subjected them to your sorcery."

"Sir Zack, would you like to continue my story or shall I?"

The pair held each other's gaze, animosity flowing like static through the air between them until a word of rebuke erupted from Aeris' lips. "The both of you will be civil or I will leave this room and surrender myself to the Hand!" she barked. Both men muttered a barely audible apology at this.

"I had no choice," Cloud continued. "Either I face them then and there and risk one of them breaking off to kill Lady Aeris or take a risk and hold them there with magic. Such a spell is of common use in my land, and would serve as a proper deterrent in any case."

"You burned half of Gainsborough Forest down, Master Swordsman," Zack pointed out.

"And you would rather I preserve the trees and sacrifice your liege?" Strife countered. At the knight's silence, the other man continued. "I had hoped to avoid such a public spectacle, in all honesty. But the Hand had moved too quickly, as if there was someone in the court of Gainsborough who might have found her first and pointed the Hand in her direction."

"So now you cast doubt on the loyalty of Lord Gast's liegemen?!" Zack roared, jumping out of his seat and reaching for a sword hilt that was no longer there. "I should have your head for this blasphemy, Master Strife!"

"Zack Strife you will restrain yourself and be silent!" Aeris seethed. "This is no behavior for a knight to engage in, let alone a knight who claims to be in my service!"

"My apologies milady, I was merely—"

"You were merely exposing your lady's heritage to people who might place us in danger," Yuffie interrupted, her voice turning cold. "Did you not realize what kind of calamity you've placed us all in?! How many people in this common room have heard your little tirade, Master Fair?"

"Lady Kisaragi—"

"The matters of a liege lady's safety is a serious thing for a liegeman to consider, Sir Zack," Cloud said, his green eyes seemingly glowing in their sockets as they trained securely on the other man. "If Vincent and I had not planned on contingencies like this we would certainly find ourselves in a pinch, would we not?"

Zack bent his head, his lips stretched tight in a frown. "I will suffer a rebuke from Lady Aeris," he said after a moment. "I will even suffer a rebuke from the Lady Kisaragi. But I will under no occasion ever find myself suffering one from you, foul knave!" The brunette turned to the heir of House Gainsborough and said "I beg forgiveness for my behavior, lady. I feel as if I must retire, lest I dishonor you and Lady Kisaragi any further."

Zack Fair, Knight Commander of the Fifteenth Squad of House Gainsborough, left in a huff, trailing his borrowed cape behind him. Aeris watched him go, an anguished expression coming to her face at the thought of being the cause of such a bitter argument between two people. "Milady," the cryptic blond warrior said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Your liegeman is loyal and only wishes to lay claim to the responsibility of your safety. In any other circumstance that would have been a noble act indeed, but even a warrior of his caliber would be hard-pressed to fight even against one of The Hand."

Aeris hung her head, unwilling to wound her liegeman any further. "I shall go and make sure his pride is not too damaged," she said. "Your words are well met, Master Strife, but I fear that one day your lack of tact will one day push the people closest to you away."

Cloud watched her leave, trailing after the knight. He must have sat there for a few minutes more when a finger tapped him on the shoulder. "What about you then, Master Strife?" Yuffie asked. "Would you consider yourself strong enough to protect my best friend? Even with your sour comrade?"

"I pray the gods help me accomplish even that much milady," Cloud murmured. "The presence of more people to protect does make things more complicated than they should have been. But I promise you this: I will keep you all as safe as my blade would allow."

The blond warrior turned to look directly at Yuffie's eyes. "Make no mistake," he said. "I am not belittling your skill as a warrior, formidable as though they may be to the ways of man. But it is time for you to face the truth. We will be facing things the likes of which your own nightmares might shrink back in fear."

"I am strong enough to protect myself, Master Swordsman!" the Wutain huffed indignantly. "You need not worry about me like I'm made of glass! All I ask for is the chance to prove myself for what I can do! Odin's beard! I'm the blood of a hundred Wutain warlords!"

"Then I pray you hold on to your courage when the time comes for it to be tempered in the fires of conflict," Strife continued. "Your loyalty to Lady Aeris is admirable indeed. But I beg of you to learn the limits of where your strength can get you. Some battles just aren't fought. " With that, he took his leave.

xxxx

Damnation upon it all.

Vincent found himself perched on the chimney of a building with a vantage point of the inn's main entrance, the clawed golden gauntlet Nanaki weighing heavily upon his left arm, the killing edge Dark Nation clutched in his right. Both were two of the best weapons he had ever forged in his lifetime, far greater than anything he could ever make in these pathetic excuses for smithies these mortals had here in Midgard.

The interference of The Hand had changed everything, and now he must accompany this accursed group all the way to the borders of Asgard if any of that blasted _Einjarjar_'s wards were to have any chance of being alive when that blasted swordsman even makes it halfway there. For what seemed like the fiftieth time that eve, he cursed the day he ever decided to take his sense of honor with him when he left those hallowed halls.

Life would have been so much simpler without it dragging him down.

A panther black as night slithered silently behind him, followed closely by an oversized wolf with a bright red mane on its right flank. "_The way is clear, milord_" Nanaki said. "_There is none for at least fifteen leagues who may approach without our knowing it._"

"Both of you continue guarding the same areas," Vincent said. "If you feel that anything might pose a threat to the people in that inn you must strike silently and quickly. We must be able to remain unobtrusive until the gates of Asgard are in sight, if not upon us."

"_Aye milord_," came the reply from Dark Nation. "_Thine will is our command._"

"Have you grown weary of your tasks of old already?"

The blacksmith snorted, not even bothering to respond. Cloud stood behind him, directly at his left flank. "It took you long enough," Valentine said. "I'd been standing here a good four hours."

"What news?"

"Nanaki and Dark Nation see nothing that would endanger us thus far," the other man replied. "There has been news from Asgard's pigeon cotes in the city," he handed Cloud one of the rolled pieces of parchment in his hand. "Your convoy to the north will take five days to get ready. As it will take us three days to get to the rendezvous point, it might be more advisable for us to stay tomorrow morning and evening here so we can depart in the darkness."

"I don't like the idea of staying in any one place long for people to remember us."

"Alas for you, Master Einjarjar. That's the only choice for us thus far."

Cloud mulled this over and nodded. "You may be right about that Master Blacksmith," he conceded. "We can only hope the mortals don't do anything foolish before we leave. You know as well as I do what the Vanir might be capable of doing when they find out we brought potential hostages through their territory."

"They won't leave her side. You know this."

"This does not make things any easier for us in any case," The Einjarjar said, training his eyes on the inn's door. "Permit me this one question if I may."

"You may."

"The Knight I had no choice in bringing, but why did you bring the girl?"

"It's a hard tale to believe."

"Try me."

So Vincent related the tale of how he attempted to use a fire-based concussion spell to incapacitate her and flee. "I don't know how she managed it," he related later. "But as I was finishing the incantation she had succeeded in drawing power from Dark Nation's protection barrier. No one alive should have been able to use that aspect of her skill set."

"A curious development indeed," The blond replied. "The only one who should have been able to use that move was Lu—"

"Don't say her name," The blacksmith seethed. "You have no right to speak it."

"But it has been four hundred years."

"The centuries pass by too slowly for me to allow anyone else to so callously say her name."

"You grieve for far too long."

"And you hardly grieved at all," came the counter.

For a long time the two men stood face to face, faded reflections of each other and the pain each felt. Much was said in the moment's silence they spent, yet all of that were words that probably should have never been said at all.

xxxx

The Woman in the Shadows was close. She could practically taste it. The trail grew warmer with each passing hour, and all the signs pointed to the fact that Infalna's brat was currently headed in the direction of a small village to the east.

She took comfort in the fact that she was only a day away, and not a week.

Infalna's line would end by her hand.

xxxx

"Do you make a habit of sleeping outside doors?"

Zack Fair jerked awake, his hand on the Zweihander he placed to his left just before he retired. Valentine perked an impeccable eyebrow at the gesture. "What—" he began, before he was cut off with "the morning comes, Master Fair. We'd best breakfast before the day catches us off guard, as it apparently did you."

Zack glared, but took the arm offered him. He joined the blacksmith to the common room, where apparently only the golden haired knave sat. The knight took the seat directly in front of him, as if daring the other man to make him leave.

Cloud didn't, which seemed to slightly infuriate Fair. It was irrational, that much he could admit to himself, but there was something about the other man that sent his hair standing on end. There was deception there, the knight saw. Something that screams in his instincts at the top of its lungs saying _false!_ He could never trust Cloud Strife. If Lady Aeris knew what was good for her, she shouldn't either.

Which is not the case, unfortunately.

The knight took a sip at the offered mug of tea, still wondering why the ladies were not with them. A short glance at the windows told him the reason: it was a few hours from dawn. The moon was setting in the horizon, and there was a barely perceptible haze of orange seen from another window on the other side of the common room. Even the inn's serving maids were sleepily bringing them food and drink.

"I'll need to ask you to cooperate with us for the next few days," Cloud said absently, reading from a folded piece of parchment. "Of all of us you have possibly the most knowledge of the areas we have to traverse before we get Lady Aeris to a place the Hand cannot reach her. You, Master Valentine and myself have to make sure she and Lady Kisaragi can get there with as little trouble as possible."

"Exactly where do you plan on taking her?"

"I'm not at liberty to say that right now—"

"That's not an excuse I'm willing to accept," Zack said, speaking over the rim of his mug. "I swore fealty to my liege lord at the age of sixteen. Swore an oath to always serve him and do everything in my power to keep him alive. With Lord Gast's current status unknown—distressed as I am to admit this—that oath falls to Lady Aeris."

"You know nothing of oaths of fealty."

"Oh? And you do?"

The two warriors stared each other down, neither one willing to back off. "You try my patience, _Master Knight_," Cloud said, the inflection on the last two words sounding like he was speaking an expletive. "But this does nothing towards the accomplishment of my mission. There are things in this world far beyond your comprehension—"

"And not yours?"

"Speak one more word and I'll…"

"Enough of this bickering," Vincent cut in. "Both of you. Master Fair, I realize the extent of your concern. And you are right to question our motives. But at this point we, unfortunately, cannot explain any further than this: Lady Aeris has family from the lands we came from. Her death has caused considerable grief to the people and until she can make an appearance there nothing can be done to help the realm find any peace. Even you must agree that such an endeavor is something Lady Aeris herself will approve of."

Zack nodded grudgingly. Aeris Gainsborough did have such a disposition, and it has served her well in winning the hearts of the people she would one day be destined to rule. The big question on his mind right now is the identity of this family member his liege lady was supposed to aid. He had never heard of any land in the direction they were travelling in that might have any relationship to the Gainsborough. But then he was merely a knight. Perhaps the land was simply too far away for a lot of communication between the two to take place.

Still, the nagging feeling in the back of his head persisted. But there was no reason to voice out further suspicion just yet. The two will make a mistake. And when they do, this entire web of lies will come falling apart.

"I will concede you point, Master Valentine," Fair said in a carefully measured tone. "But only because I consider you in higher standing than your comrade. I am willing to go along with your plans. For now."

"I could ask for no less, Master Fair," Vincent replied.

Breakfast was eaten without further incident, and the two court women joined them an hour later. The rest of the morning was spent planning their itinerary and judging the amount of supplies the party would need, and assigning people to go to the markets later in the morning to make their purchases.

xxx

The Woman in the Shadows stood at the gates of the village. The quarry was here.

She could feel it.


	4. Touch of the Divine

Touch of the Divine

**Touch of the Divine**

There was a small table in the shared room occupied by Yuffie and Aeris, so the five had chosen to congregate there to discuss their chosen routes. A map had been produced from inside of Cloud's cape, and was unrolled carefully to display its contents to the assembled group.

"This is where we are," the blond swordsman said, putting his gloved finger on the spot where Gongagga was. "This village is northeast of Gainsborough, about four days ride from the coastal border. That puts us about three more days ride to Cosmo Canyon, where we'll be meeting up with the convoy. We have approximately four days before the caravan leaves, and we best make the most of the time and leave as soon as night falls."

"We don't have any reason to believe Kadaj and his group has given up on us," Vincent added, explaining Cloud's reasoning. "It's going to be much harder to track prey in the dark of night, so from here on end, we're going to be traveling in the darkness and sleeping in the day."

"I know all three of you are anxious to find out what our final destination will be," Cloud continued, steepling his fingers. "But I assure you, as soon as we reach the convoy, we'll have all the time to talk on this in the world. It's just that there is no safety for us until we become part of the numbers that the caravan protects."

"A caravan normally has its own guards and hired hands to help protect its cargo and people who journey together with it," Zack observed, nodding his head at the logic of it. "It would make sense to rush to meet it just to be sure we would be safe. But ideally, is a day's allowance truly enough to make up for anything that might happen in the meantime?"

There was a tone of challenge in that statement, one which Cloud might not have chosen to acknowledge. "No its not," the blond admitted. "But then again would another day make a difference if we end up fighting against the same class of people Kadaj and his cohorts represent? Or two more?"

That remark was met with silence.

"Okay," Yuffie perked up. "We're just going to be riding hard until we can get to Cosmo Canyon right? It's no big deal then! We'll make it for sure!" The Wutain princess punctuated the last sentence by pumping her fist.

Aeris watched the exchange go back and forth. She felt like a fifth wheel in this conversation. Her tutoring in the arts of combat were limited mostly to military strategy (most of them theoretical at best) and some lessons on using the rod. Zack had assured her she was one of the best students he's taught, but the heir to House Gainsborough could never be too sure how much of that was honest praise at her skills or Zack being accommodating to help encourage her.

Yuffie had no such problem. Her education in her native Wutai included training in several fighting styles, four of which was exclusively taught only to her family line. Vincent, thought he tried to appear every bit the quiet craftsman, had a deadly air about him Aeris only usually associated with Continental Knights, of which Zack himself was a member. And Cloud…

Cloud could handle his monstrous crystalline sword one handed.

Aeris missed the closing parts of the conversation, understanding only that they would be leaving as soon as the sun set, and that they needed to be packed by then. The men left the room, leaving her and Yuffie alone.

"Gil for your thoughts?"

The older girl smiled at her closest friend. "I was just thinking," Aeris said.

"Seemed like a pretty depressing line of thought back there. Wanna talk about it?"

"It's nothing, really."

"Suit yourself," Yuffie shrugged. "Get some rest if you can. I've been on this kind of trip before, and trust me when I say that sleeping will be the one thing you'll be missing most when we start riding hard. You've already packed anyway, right?"

The auburn-haired girl nodded, folding up her traveling cloak and laying down on the bed. It was three in the afternoon, more than enough time to get at least three more hours of sleep. Aeris also considered that sleeping may also take away her anxieties of the moment.

At least until she can wake up.

xxxxx

"Do you really think Lady Aeris can stand four days of hard travel?"

Cloud ignored the knight and kept stuffing items in his rucksack. "If you were paying attention a while ago you'd have remembered we were only riding for three days," the blond commented. "The fourth day is allowance for if something goes wrong."

Zack frowned. "Three days of hard travel isn't something any of us can handle easily in any case," the other man said, leaning against the wall for support. "Why the rush Master Strife?"

Blue eyes met brown. "I told you already," he said. "The entire story becomes clear once we get to Cosmo Canyon. I will not share any details sooner than that."

"You should stop convincing him to tell you anything," came the voice of Vincent Valentine, as the man walked in their shared dorm. "Strife will not share any details until absolutely necessary. Take it from someone who knows him well."

Zack watched the red-eyed man carefully. "Master Valentine," he asked. "I know some of Strife's story and why he wants to escort the Lady Aeris out to gods knows where. What about you? Why are you even helping him out?"

"Ah yes. You see, the reason is…"

Zack leaned forwards. "…a secret."

The knight huffed petulantly despite himself. "I can't decide what's worse," Zack snorted. "Strife and his annoying way of keeping all the information to himself, or your way of mocking people while doing the exact same thing."

"Which reminds me," Vincent said. "I'll need to borrow your sword Master Fair."

"What for?'

"We have six hours free to do what we want," the man explained. "I've found a public smithy we can have your weapon sharpened at. I've seen the kind of damage it took from those monsters back at the palace."

Zack took a look at his Zweihander's blade and winced. The metal was chipped in several places, the monsters were harder than their faux-wooden appearance seemed to be. "Don't worry about your blade," Strife assured him. "Valentine used to be the very best weapons smith there was. No other person would be more trustworthy in a smithy."

Vincent took the blade from the knight in silence, and leaned into Cloud's direction to listen to a whispered comment before leaving.

Zack had not let on that he caught a few of the words, but they were in no language he could recognize. Strife's Common was oddly accented, as if used to speaking a completely different language. If he listened closely, despite the underlying tones of the Gainsborough regional dialect, Valentine had the same accent as well.

There was no way to be completely sure at this point what the situation was. A possible state of calamity within a single nation, Strife and Valentine being citizens was not terribly unlikely a scenario. But which nation was it? Zack had heard many accents during his stay in a court that regularly interceded between warring nations, but to date there was nothing resembling the one he noticed from the two men they were traveling with.

All of this leads to something.

But to what?

xxxxx

She ordered a cup of tea and took a seat in an isolated corner in the common room, a position sheltered by the shadows of the failing daylight. She spoke to no one and kept to herself, sipping at the cup every so often and asking for a refill when it ran out. The other inn workers kept away from her when the initial attempts at conversation failed, though the woman did seem polite enough.

It was just that she did not want to be disturbed.

The watcher suppressed the desire to leap from her seat when three men walked downstairs from the main rooms and separated near the doors leading to the main streets of town. The blond knight was talking with Master Fair, and said a quiet farewell to the third one, the man dressed in scarlet robes and wearing the strange gauntlet on his left hand.

When Master Fair had been left alone, she rushed to his side and grabbed his arm. It took superb reflexes and a lucky glance to the side to prevent the woman from taking a blow to the face by a leather gloved hand. "Tifa?" Zack said incredulously. "Tifa Lockheart?!"

Indeed, his liege lady's personal handmaiden and bodyguard stood before him. Tifa was dressed in what looked like a fine traveling cloak, which was right now dusty from use. She had a small pack with her, which presumably contained what little supplies she had managed to spirit away in her attempt to follow them.

"Master Fair," she managed to get out, her eyes clearly strained from holding back tears, embraced him hard. "I had been following you and Lady Aeris for five days! I hoped against hope that I'd be able to find you, and…and…" The last sentence was choked out by a flood of desperate weeping.

Zack stroke her hair back behind her ears in as comforting a gesture as he could manage. Gods! She didn't belong here any more than Lady Aeris did. "Tifa," he got out. "Listen to me. It's not safe for you to be here. You need to return to Gainsborough and report to the Lord Gast what has happened. That his daughter is safe and—"

"Lord Gast is dead!"

Staring at her in open shock, the knight barely managed to be led back to an empty table by the very distraught handmaiden. "Lord Gast?" he managed, his own emotions rushing to the fore. "How?"

"The Shin-Ra Imperium had moved their armies across our borders in secret for weeks it seemed," Tifa explained haltingly. "They were seeking to eliminate our fiefdom for what they've done in stopping their war with Wutai. And after Lady Gainsborough disappeared that night in the ball...they…they saw fit to attack."

Zack Fair could see it in his mind. The attack on the castle after large portions of the forest was burned down left the area open. The soldiers were still in a state of confusion after the heir to the House was taken away, and Lord Gast would not have been in a proper state of mind to order a defense of his household in any case. He clenched his fists until his nails almost tore through the rough leather gloves.

"Who is that?"

The knight whipped around, his face a mask of anger as he faced down Cloud Strife. The blond swordsman tilted his head, staring at him with as curious an expression as his blank face could provide. "You," Zack growled. "This is all your fault!" The brunette screamed as he let fly a furious haymaker at the blond's face.

It never connected.

The next thing he knew, Zack was facing the ceiling inside the shared dormitory he used with Valentine and that bastard Strife. "I hope you'll be more rational this time," said his hated voice.

Zack tried to rise, but found he was bound hand and foot on the metal support structures of the bed. Tifa was there with a worried expression on her face, but seemed afraid to take down the blond swordsman herself. She had been there at the fight, and the surprising speed the blonde had used had not been forgotten.

"Master Fair," she said pleadingly. "Please calm down! Nobody's at fault for what happened! The Imperium had been planning this for years ever since the truce at Wutai coast! It was their betrayal, not Master Strife's!"

The now former knight stopped struggling, but Cloud made no move to cut his ropes. "What now Strife?" the bound man taunted. "Will you let Lady Aeris know that her father is dead and that she could do nothing to change it?"

The blond stayed silent for a few moments before saying "no. That is not my intention."

"But as soon as we find her place amongst her kinsmen in my land, all things will change."

xxxxx

"Here."

Yuffie took the proffered packages and frowned. "What is this?" the Wutain asked.

"Weapons for you and Lady Aeris," Vincent explained, turning away to check the saddles of the Chocobo they had been using. An extra one had to be purchased after Mistress Lockheart's arrival, but otherwise there hadn't been much of a dent in their individual purses to take note of. "There would be a _chisakatana_ for you to use with your Wutainese martial arts, and a metal quarterstaff for the Lady Aeris."

Unwrapped, the smaller of the bundles did reveal a scabbarded short sword of Wutain design, so the heiress to the House of Wutai did not bother opening the other one.

"Ris-chan did mention Zack taught her some moves with the staff," Yuffie said absently as she slipped the weapon in a gap in her robes' sash. She drew the sword and admired the way it was designed. An engraved relief of one of Leviathan's myths was carved in the central parts of the blade itself, but the ornamental design did nothing to change the sharpness of the blade.

"The goddess Lucretia," Yuffie said, admiring the story carved in the blade. "She always had a special liking for the Wutai. It was said that her divine blacksmith came down and taught the people the ways of metalworking, and that was why our weapons were the best in Midgard."

Vincent kept his eyes averted. "Send for the others," he said, checking the straps on the last Chocobo. "I think we should be ready to leave any minute now."

The six travelers left the inn when the clock in the common room struck eight, leading their Chocobo by the reins. When they had reached the edge of the town, all of them mounted up and spurred their avian steeds to what amounted to a leisurely run.

They needed to cross several plains in the distance between them and Cosmo Canyon, plus actually climb up the mountains that bordered the desert settlement. The choice of the steed was no accident, as horses took a lot of time to cross the kind of rugged terrain they would be traversing. The Chocobo could, to a measure, climb better than a horse, has better agility because of their bipedal statures, and could probably outrun one given the right conditioning. The only disadvantage was that all the provisions they were carrying had to be evenly distributed to all, the one thing the Chocobo did not hold over a horse was its capacity to carry heavy loads.

They'd done the equivalent of a full run throughout the night, stopping every two hours to rest the birds and plot their course on the map, and to pitch camp once the morning came too close. Tifa was taking the decision to be secretive about the fate of Aeris' father rather well, her own face betraying nothing of what happened back home. She stuck to the story that she left on her own, to follow her lady to seek her fate.

Which was true, in a sense, but was not the entirety of it.

The group took the time to teach Aeris the intricacies of combat whenever they had to rest the Chocobo. Zack was renewing his teachings with the quarterstaff, Yuffie and Tifa teaching her about hand to hand when she grew tired from exhertion and Cloud giving lectures on using the terrain. One day Cloud and Vincent watched a Lady who was growing more and more skilled by the day throw her own bodyguard over her shoulder. Tifa shook the impact off and grinned, acknowledging the point.

"_She would have been most at home in the arts of combat,_" Cloud said, lapsing into the Noble Tongue of Asgard in his distraction. "_Her own mother wouldst be most proud seeing her today._"

"Watch your language Strife," Vincent cautioned, glancing around to check if any of the others had been close enough to hear. Zack was several yards away, putting a whetstone to his sword and Yuffie was helping Aeris pick up the downed Tifa to prepare for another round.

"Do you ever stop to wonder," the blacksmith said after a fashion. "That perhaps we are placing a burden on young Aeris' shoulders too great for her to carry? That this entire thing would unravel at the slightest touch should her own will not be strong enough?"

"Every day."

"Well then why?"

"There is no other choice," the spiky-haired blond shook his head in distaste, clearly at odds with himself despite the determination to bring his liege's daughter home. "With Lady Infalna's death there is little else to be done but try to fill the gap in the void of power. Anything else would cause the total destruction of our realm and thus ignite the flaming furies of Ragnarok ten thousand years early."

"So its either she grows strong enough or all of us will perish," Vincent said almost laconically. Cloud remained silent, his green eyes trained straight at Aeris' direction.

"A heavy burden indeed, Master Einharjar."

"Okay I think that's enough for tonight," Zack said, breaking the silence as he noticed the dawning of the next day from the light in the east. "Everyone has to pack it in. We have only tonight to travel and we should reach Cosmo Canyon by early morning tomorrow."

Muttered verbal agreements punctuated the knight's request, and the ladies went to their tents to leave the men to discuss the rotating watch. Vincent stared at the whetstone in Zack's hand as the larger man approached. "Were you even using that thing?" he inquired. That got a grin out of him.

"The blade is flawless, absolutely flawless," Zack said. "I never remembered my old blade having a balance quite like this one, and once or twice I cut into the whetstone by accident." The whetstone was held up, a single notched groove was marring the surface of the smooth stone.

Zack's grin turned serious as he faced Cloud. "Well Master Strife," he said casually. "The web of deception is about ready to unravel, I think. One more night before you need to tell Lady Aeris everything. Not just about your own purposes, but about everything."

"I remember the bargain we made."

"Remembering a bargain is not the same as committing to it," came the knight's counter.

"True, true," Cloud grudgingly admitted, as he drew the short straw to assign him first watch. Over the horizon the plateaus of Cosmo Canyon lay, the red rocks of the valleys shining in the early light of the dawn.

Though he wouldn't admit it then, he really hoped something would happen before the night was through.

xxxxx

"The stars are different tonight."

Erich glanced in the direction of the village leader gazing into his telescope. Bugenhagen strode down the stepladder and stopped in front of the desk they shared. "Elder?" the apprentice scribe asked. "Was there anything you wanted?"

"No dear boy," the wizened old man said, waving a hand dismissively. "I was just saying that the stars are different tonight."

"I don't know what you mean, Elder."

"Of course you don't," came the answer with a snort. "I haven't done any explaining yet."

Erich shook his head, trying to decide if his Elder has finally gone off the deep end. The man had ruled (or, in the words of the citizenry, acted as its adviser) for the better part of almost fifty years. In all that time he had managed to keep the peace and settle the small tribe's disputes, but even then the scribe wondered if Elder Bugenhagen even kept all his marbles in one bag.

In retrospect, maybe he never did.

"Have you ever read of the legends of the War of the Hundred Years?"

"Of course Elder," Erich cocked his head inquiringly. "I believe the village stores some of the most expansive of the ancient texts on the subject. If I recall, two clans of gods fought each other for a full hundred years, before reaching a peace that lasted a thousand. One clan, the Aesir, controlled the heavens and the elements, the other, the Vanir, controlled the earth and life on it. I believe there are festivals on the subject as far away as the Wutain continent in the west and Junon harbor in the east."

Bugenhagen chuckled, his spectacled eyes twinkling knowingly. "Ah yes," he declared. "You do know of the legends."

Erich furrowed his brow as he went back to work, his quill pen making scratchy noises as he wrote. He stopped after barely five minutes, totally unable to concentrate. "I give up," he admitted, shooting an annoyed glare at his Master. "What don't I know about the legends?"

Bugenhagen sighed, palming his face. "Ah the impertinence of youth," he muttered to himself.

"Beyond the myth there are always realities," the Elder explained, his tone of voice like that of a parent to a recalcitrant child. Considering Bugenhagen had watched the teenager's _grandparents_ grow up, that wasn't too far off the mark. "Quantifiable observations that have long since passed on to recorded history. Tell me dear boy, what have you remembered of the time of civilization as far back as a thousand years before?"

Erich scrunched his forehead in thought, chewing on the tip of his quill. "I remember something mentioned in the texts about a time of peace unheard of in any time in history," the apprentice began. "The first five hundred years were the pinnacle of civilization, the Elder Cities were theorized to have been built by that time frame. Of all of the Elder Nations only Wutai, the Shin-Ra Imperium and the remains of what may be a temple southwest of Junon harbor still exist, close to Mideel. There is also another set of ruins thought to be found northeast of Cosmo Canyon itself, and a fabled city being excavated in a continent to the far north of this one."

"Very good," Bugenhagen said approvingly. "And if you notice as well, astronomers in that specific time period made mention of a certain alignment of stars, coinciding with what they termed as 'Descent of the Gods.'"

"Look here," the Elder gestured towards the telescope's eye piece, motioning for the young man to climb the step ladder. "Watch the constellations of Infalna the Warrior Queen, Loki the Trickster and Jormagund the Serpent. Note their positions carefully."

Erich did as he was bade, noting the positions of the stellar avatars of the known pantheon. Somewhere amongst the group was the great ash tree Yggdrasil, the very foundations upon which the realms where held up. When he felt like he remembered enough, he went to see what Bugenhagen was gesturing towards, in a star chart on his own desk.

"The positioning fits!" the old man said excitedly. "And look here, the positions of the planet's own moon coinciding with a calendar event that hadn't happened in well over a thousand years!"

"But what does it all _mean_?" Erich asked, exasperated. Hearing the old man speaking in riddles wasn't exactly the best way to endear one's self to him. "This is all a mass of gobbledegook to me Elder."

"Don't you see?" Bugenhagen implored, thumping his fist on the oak desk. "All the signs are there! The increased level of activity in the warlike nation of Shin-Ra! The near collapse of the ancient kingdom of the Wutai. The odd weather patterns the past few months and the sudden battles for power that started nigh eighteen years before! This isn't just random coincidence. This is a signal that the world has been touched…"

"By the hand of the divine."

"The touch of the divine?" Erich asked incredulously. "Do you mean to say gods walk the earth again? That's just insane!"

"I never said anything about gods, dear boy," Bugenhagen replied, his old eyes twinkling merrily. "I said divine. There are other things besides gods that rank in that category, and you'd best remember that."

Before Erich could ask his master anything further, a village watchman knocked on the door. "Elder Bugenhagen," he reported. "The convoy to Mt. Nibel has arrived."

xxxxxx

Author's Note: Again, an unbeta'ed chapter. This is more of a transition to what's going to come. A big part of the story will be the pilgrimage back to Infalna's lands, which, by now, I'd made clear as a place not really of this world. Any mistakes in grammar fall to the fact that English is not my first language (and that I've been too lazy to countercheck what I write).

Incorporating what I've been able to read on Norse myth, I'd managed to find a lot of texts on what the Aesir and the Vanir used to stand for, and decided to just divide them into two clans with two specific jurisdictions that meshed in with what I've managed to write previously. Still, I hope I can expand on the story a bit more by the next chapter so I don't have to explain as much in the author's notes.

**Some Definitions**

Aesir – a clan of gods in the Norse pantheon which includes Odin the All Father, Thor and most of the major gods

Vanir – another clan of gods in the Norse pantheon which includes the brother and sister Freya and Freyjr (hope I'm spelling that right)

Einjarjar- a hero who has died and had been claimed by the Valkyries. Assigned to do battle on the side of the gods come Ragnarok, the end of the world.

Valkyries- Traditionally seen as warrior maidens, also in charge of gathering the heroes who fell in battle to Valhalla, a place where they will stay training and feasting until the end of the world when they must fight on the side of the gods.


End file.
